Agenda

Presentations

Risk Communication
Workshop Overview

Introduction to Risk Communication and IHR 

Cholera Outbreak in Haiti

Modules

Transparency & First Announcement of a Real or Potential Risk

Public Communication Coordination

Information Dissemination including Media Relations

Listening Through Dialogue

Building Capacity

Simulation Exercises

Simulation Exercise:
A Mysterious Illness

Simulation Exercise:
The Situation Worsens

Simulation Exercise:
An Evolving Emergency

Simulation Exercise:
Persistent Problems

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Council for Central American Ministers of Health (COMISCA)

Presenters and Facilitators

• Bryna Brennan, PAHO/WDC 
• Marsha Vanderford, CDC
• Nikki Parrott, CDC
• Nivaldo Linares, CDC-CAP
• Rafael Chacon, COMISCA
• Rolando Hernandez, COMISCA
• Rosane Lopes, PAHO 
• Satya Sarkar, WHO/Headquarters
• Silvia Posada, PAHO/Panama
• Vilma Gutierrez, PAHO
• Xinia Bustamante, PAHO/Costa Rica

Participants

• Invitations were extended to three ministry of health representatives from each country in the region (Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama).

Objectives

• Understand how effective risk communication supports other public health emergency functions
• Appreciate the risk communication complexity and challenge of the public health emergency environment
• Understand the definition of risk communication for public health emergencies, its required core capacities, and the assessment criteria to measure and track progress in this area of work
• Be able to develop a practical action plan for their organization to improve capacity for risk communication during public health emergencies